Egypt's bourse fell on Wednesday, weighed by Orascom Telecom (OT) which declined for a fifth day over concerns the sale of a stake in its Algerian unit might take longer than expected, while trading was mixed on Gulf bourses. OT shares slid 8.4 percent, and Cairo's benchmark index finished 1.4 percent lower.
United Arab Emirates' Al Bayan newspaper quoted Algeria's finance minister as citing disagreement between Algeria and OT's parent company Vimpelcom on the value of the deal for a 51 percent of OT's mobile phone unit Djezzy. "The index is down mainly because of OT. Today, according to al-Bayan newspaper, negotiations to buy Djezzy may take months to conclude due to a disagreement over the price," said Mohamed Kotb of Naeem Brokerage.
Last week, a senior finance ministry source told Reuters Algeria would pay $6.5 billion for a controlling stake in Djezzy. Orascom Telecom holds an 11 percent weight of the benchmark. In Saudi Arabia, the bourse snapped a five-session rally amid a weak global backdrop. The index fell 0.4 percent, as heavyweights Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Al Rajhi Bank dipped 0.7 and 0.3 percent respectively. Global stocks fell on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve dimmed hopes for fresh asset-buying and oil slipped.
"This week, the market ran up quite a bit and you would expect investors to be more cautious and limit their exposures - anything could happen over the weekend," said Muhammad Faisal Potrik, research analyst at Riyad Capital. The selling pressure is likely to ease up as investors are still upbeat on first-quarter earnings numbers. "Fundamentals are still intact and there's no reason for the momentum to not continue," Potrik added. He said petrochemical and banking stocks are expected to post strong first-quarter earnings, with SABIC's sales seen as being up 9 percent year-on-year but net income 8 percent lower during the first quarter.
In Dubai, blue chips helped lift the index 0.6 percent to a four-week high. Emaar Properties gained 2.8 percent and telecom operator du climbed 0.9 percent. Arabtec jumped for a second session, up 3.5 percent, since Abu Dhabi fund Aabar Investments nearly doubled its stake to 10.45 percent in the Dubai builder. "Blue chips will stay close to current levels while other, smaller names, will sell off," said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management.
"There is a rotation going into some names before Q1 numbers come in and if global markets rally, these would outperform." In Qatar, trading volumes in Qatar slumped to an 11-week low and the index closed flat as buying interest was muted ahead of earnings.
Qatar National Bank slipped 0.7 percent. After the market closed, it reported a 17.4 percent rise in quarterly profits, just shy of analyst estimates. In Kuwait, the index fell 0.3 percent to a three-week low as a weak outlook for earnings dampened sentiment.